


faith (in you, always)

by lovejjong



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 01:04:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16800616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovejjong/pseuds/lovejjong
Summary: Na Jaemin met his first love on a white Christmas.





	faith (in you, always)

Jaemin hates his his friends. Not only did they blow him off on Christmas, but that also means he isn't getting anything. At all. No presents. Zero. He bites his lip in agitation, looking at the mass of messages spilling with apologies and promises to make it up to him, before glancing at the bags of presents next to his couch sadly. He had even taken a day off at the cafe where he works!

Huffing out in annoyance, Jaemin ignores the messages, setting the group chat on mute. He walks into his room, glancing at the bags one last time before he enters the bathroom to take a quick twirl in the hot shower. It's a white Christmas this year, the snow falling gently, making soft pit-pat sounds against the windows. It was strangely comfortable, and Jaemin smiles at it when he comes out from the bathroom, clad in a pink sweater that feels like clouds, and black skinny jeans.

He glanced at the time, and almost smiles. Christmas means overtime at the cafe he works at, if he hadn't taken a leave. The cafe- opened by Ten-hyung- always opens all day and all night during holidays in order to cater to people that doesn't have dates or outings. Taking his keys and his phone, Jaemin slips into his sneakers and exits his little apartment.

When he arrives at the cafe, it was almost full, bustling with life and warmth. Jaemin rushed into the cafe, throwing a glance around the cafe to check for empty spots before he got into the line. When he got to the counter, a petite male with multiple piercings scoffed at him, although not unkindly. "what brings you here, Mr I-have-a-ton-of-plans?" he asks, and Jaemin smiles sheepishly.

"they cancelled. Last minute." Jaemin sighs softly, then added a "sorry Ten-hyung." The normally sharp gaze of his softens a bit, and Ten rests a hand on his hip. "hm. that is really pathetic, honey, so I will forgive you. The usual?" Jaemin shook his head, humming a little as his eyes takes in the familiar menu. "peppermint love," he decides on, and smiled at Ten. "it's a special holiday, I wanted something sweet," he says in answer to his questioning gaze, and Ten nods, keying in the order. "take a seat, we will call you when your order is up."

Jaemin turns away from the counter after paying, only to be devastated. The seat he had been eyeing ever since he came in was taken by another person, and he pouts. From the back to the counter, he can hear loud cackling laughter, speaking volumes of the fact that Ten and the others had seen -and know- that his favourite spot is taken. Jaemin bits on his lip, staring hard at the other empty seats- there's none- and he sighs.

He squares up, about to walk to the table he had thirsted over -it is his favourite, after all- and his heart is set-

"Peppermint love and chocolate cake, for Na Jaemin!"

Jaemin groaned, turning back and shooting a sheepish Doyoung a sharp glare. He had completely ruined the moment, and oh my god does he know that, for that sheepish expression had morphed into one of smugness in a millisecond. "Stop disturbing me," he hissed as he took to the tray away from Doyoung. The older just gasped dramatically, a hand pressed to his chest in mock devastation. "I did nothing," he says, and smiles. "good luck on getting some of that," he continues, nodding towards the direction of the table. Jaemin flushed, ducking his head and snatching the tray away from him without any other word.

He moved slowly past the tables towards the table, and balanced the tray skillfully on a hand as he tapped on the male's shoulder. He turned, blinking owlishly at Jaemin- oh god. Jaemin is floored. Wide eyes, long eyelashes, and lips slightly parted, the dark-haired male is devastatingly handsome. "yes?" he asks softly, and Jaemin blinks. "Oh-" he clears his throat, trying for a small smile as he floundered for a word. "do you, um, mind- if I take this spot?" he asks, stumbling over his words as he gestured helplessly at the chair in front of him.

"oh." the male laughs, eyes crinkling into pretty crescents as he nods. "of course," he mumbles, pulling his belongings towards himself to make space for the tray. Jaemin sits down, feeling out place as he stares at the other male writing feverishly in his notebook. He shakes off the overwhelming urge to draw him, and digs into his cake silently. The atmosphere was comfortable, not at all awkward, and after Jaemin was finished, he took the tray and plate away from the table. He returned to his seat to find the other deeply immersed in his writing, and even if the sight was something to behold- he does look like art, after all- Jaemin had noticed the untouched drink and knocked softly on the table to get his attention. 

"hey- hey you," he murmurs, and the other looks up, a faint red dusting his cheeks. "yeah?" he responded quietly, and Jaemin sighs. "take a break. you didn't even touch your drink." he blinks, looking from Jaemin to his drink, before he obediently takes it and takes a tentative sip, eyes wide. When he finished, he sets it down again, a small smile on his lips. "I'm Lee Jeno, you are?" Jaemin grins back at him, before replying, "I'm Jaemin. Na Jaemin."

Jeno tilted his head a little, resting his chin on his palm, notebook now set aside. "Na Jaemin." he tested the name on his tongue. It gave Jaemin a warm feeling, but he pushed it away, focusing on the other. "if sounds familiar," Jeno continues, and Jaemin's heart began to beat to an unknown rhythm, fast and furiously.

"so what brings you to this cafe tonight?" he asks, and Jaemin blinked, caught off guard. He fumbles for something- anything to say, but came up short. Jeno notices, and smiles, albeit awkwardly. "it's just that you seem a little out of place," he waved a hand around the little establishment. Jaemin followed his arm movements, looking around. He was right. Almost everyone had something to occupy their time, be it a book or their laptop. But him, however, Jaemin looked down to his side of the table, empty save his drink.

"I brought something!" he exclaimed, cheeks burning as he took a sketchbook out. "ah." Jeno's eyes are crinkled up as he grins sheepishly, before he laces his fingers together. "I actually wanted to go to some places after this. Do you want to, maybe, come with me?" Jaemin looks at him, mouth agape, before he swallowed past the lump in his throat. "are you asking me on a date?" this is hilarious, even to Jaemin, and he lets out an awkward laugh.

"no, just a simple want to know you better," Jeno replies, a shy smile taking over the grin he sported just now. "how do you know I'm not waiting for someone?" he asks, and Jeno shrugs. "you aren't looking at your phone," he says, and Jaemin sighs. He was right. "so I am correct?" Jeno asks, and Jaemin nods, dejected. "they stood me up," he says with a deep sigh. and jeno grins. "that's great!" Jaemin's head snapped up, and he pouts. "what?" "we won't be able to meet here, if you didn't get stood up, hm?" Jaemin pushed his bottom lip up, and he leans back in his chair. "smooth."

"so? up for an adventure?" Jeno asks, as he finishes up his drink and sets it aside. His pretty eyes are trained on Jaemin expectantly, and Jaemin, despite himself, nods, as he, too, finished up his drink. They packed up their things, and Jaemin told Jeno to wait for him as he goes to the counter to talk to Ten. The other had nodded, going out to wait first.

"you're leaving with him?" Ten hissed the moment he neared the counter, and Jaemin rolled his eyes. "it's Christmas," he replies readily, before continuing, "I don't want to be alone," he finally confesses softly, eyelashes fluttering close, and Ten's eyes softened. "fine, have fun, but if he tries anything stupid, call me," he says, tapping his knuckles lightly on the wood. Jaemin nods, leaning over the counter to kiss the shorter male on his cheek. "thank you, hyung!" he says happily, and Ten smiles, shooing him away. 

When he comes out of the cafe, a beaming smile on his lips, and Jeno grins at him. Snow had started to settle on his jacket, and Jaemin dusts them off when he got near enough. "ready to go?" he ask, and Jaemin breathes out an excited 'of course.' They walked the short distance to Jeno's car, and when Jaemin got in, he turned towards, Jeno. "You aren't going to kidnap me, are you?" he asks suspiciously, and Jeno laughs. It was a bright, lively sound, and Jaemin feels like he can get drunk on that sound. "of course no!" he exclaims, and turned towards him.

"my friends stood me up for their dates," he says in a hushed voice, and Jaemin blinks. "I wanted to go to some places I saw when I'm coming back from my road trip," he explains as he got the engine to start, and Jaemin nods mutely. "ready?" he asks, eyes trained on Jaemin, as he bobbed his head a little. the car begun to move, and Jeno smiled, his eyes on the road. "you will love it, Jaemin," he says, his voice light and airy and the sound of it makes Jaemin's heart soar, just a little.

They were on the road for quite some time, and Jaemin had long since decided to close his eyes and float away a little. When he woke up, it was to Jeno shaking him a little. "hey, love," he murmurs, and Jaemin opens his eyes slowly, blinking at the smiling male. "we are here?" he asks, and Jeno grins. "yeah," he whispered, and moved away so that Jaemin could sit up.

When his eyes set on the pretty meadows set before him, he muffled a small gasp with his hand. It was absolutely stunning, the meadows seemingly endless and lovely, phantom wind setting them to sway a little. Jaemin stepped out of the car, eyes shining with wonder as he took in the night sky, stars hanging like diamonds on the otherwise dark sky. not only that, but the snow falling had only made the place even more magical. "this is-" he wasn't able to continue his words, too caught up in the scenery to even form words.

Jeno grins shyly, when Jaemin turned his eyes to him, and his breath caught in his throat again when Jaemin beheld the other. Jeno looks beautiful here, his shy smile complimenting the stars in his eyes. He seemed to glow, his skin a lovely pale colour and eyes curved into crescents. "i stopped by a cafe to get us some hot drinks and sandwiches- i hope you like it," he murmurs softly, holding up a small bag of things.

Jaemin blinks, and grins. "it's perfect," he says, before gesturing at the scenery in front of them. "this is so beautiful," he says, delight dancing in his words and Jeno brightened up almost immediately. "lovely, isn't it?" he agrees, turning back into the car to take out a small stool. "you wanna join me?" he asks, and Jaemin peeks out of the car to see Jeno climbing upwards. A soft thump on top of the car indicates that he was up. "is that safe?" Jaemin inquires, and Jeno's loud laugh echoes. "of course, come on up."

Now, Jaemin isn't the type to do this kind of things, but perhaps he is feeling a little bold, because he followed suit, hand grasping Jeno's warm hand and allowing him to pull him upwards. When he sits down on the roof, his eyes greedily drinking in the sight of the scenery from his spot. He heard a snap, and twisted his head towards Jeno, eyes wide. "Lee Jeno, did you just take a picture?" he asks, trying to be threatening but failing when Jeno laughs, keeping the camera close to his chest.

"I'm sorry," he says, a small smile on his lips as he checks the photo. "you're really pretty and I wanted to capture the moment," he turns the camera to Jaemin and the other leans in, eyes trained on the screen. He wasn't lying. Jaemin in the photo looks pretty and calm and relaxed, the opposite of what he is currently feeling. Jaemin's smile grew wider and he ducked his head, shy. "you're prettier," he says softly, and Jeno smiles.

They enjoyed the food Jeno brought with him, all laid out on the roof of the car. Jaemin lost track of his time until Jeno finally sighs. "what's wrong?" he asks, peering at the other. "it's almost the next day, our time is about to end," Jeno laments, and Jaemin smiles softly. "Christmas is ending," he murmurs, and Jeno nods, running a hand through Jaemin's hair. "this is lovely," he says after a moment of silence, and Jaemin laughs. "yeah," he agrees, and fell silent.

Jeno turns his head a little, gazing northward towards the skies, and Jaemin took the time to study his profile. Jeno is positively glowing against the night sky, beautiful dark eyes seemingly filled with stars and dark hair ruffling in the wind, flecked with snow, and Jaemin feels himself spiralling down to the abyss called love, for a boy named Lee Jeno.

They sat for a while longer, enjoying the comfortable silence that had settled on them and occasionally breaking the silence with small talk. Finally, Jeno made to go down. "come on, love, it's time to go back," he says, extending a hand for Jaemin to hold. Jaemin hopes it was too dark for Jeno to see him, for his cheeks are burning bright red as he took Jeno's hand and came down, another hand holding the plastic bag containing the finished food and drinks.

They settled in the car, and it took a while for Jeno to start the car. Jaemin had slowly drifted off, resting his head against the cool window. Jeno threw his a glance, before silently reaching over to press play on the car radio. A soft, soothing melody filled the car, and Jaemin sighs a little. The silence was comfortable, the soft music playing in the car making the situation rather comfortable. 

Much faster than Jaemin would have liked, they reached the little cafe (that's still open) and Jeno pulled over. Jaemin made to open the door, but not before he turned to Jeno with a brilliant smile. It is almost 3 in the morning, but he was not sleepy. There is a rushing sound in his ears, and his heart is pounding as he laid a tentative hand on Jeno's hand. "this is nice," he whispers, as if when he says it louder something will happen. Jeno smiled a little, and bobs his head a little. "yeah," he agrees. 

"i don't really want to let you go," he continues, and Jeno's expression breaks, giving away to vulnerability. He looks younger this way, his edges softened and a look of complete bewilderment on his face. "you can't," he says weakly, but Jaemin holds on tightly, eyes determined. Jeno goes limp, and looks up at Jaemin. "what do you propose?" he whispered, voice soft and uncertain. 

"let's try to meet again?" he asks, and Jeno laughed at that tone, at his expression. "you didn't even think that through," he says between giggles, and Jaemin grins sheepishly. "but I'm serious," he whines, and Jeno stopped laughing, eyes sad. "there's no next time," was what he says, before he leans in to press a soft kiss against Jaemin's cheek. He felt something cold being placed on his finger, but he was too shocked to say or do anything. "there's no next time," he repeats, before smiling at him. "but maybe fate will bring us together again," he continues, and Jaemin swears he could see silver lining his eyes.

as if a force propelled him, Jaemin climbed out of the car, head still spinning. He could see Jeno from his spot, but he stood frozen as Jeno mouthed three words to him, still smiling, before he drove away. 

See you soon.

Jaemin stood there, frozen, in the cold, until Ten finally notices him and ran out, pulling him into the cafe. "are you stupid?" he growls put, when Jaemin is finally seated in front of the heater in the staff room, his shivering body covered with a thick padded coat. The shorter male pushed the cup of hot chocolate into his hand, glaring at him half-heartedly.

Doyoung peeks in about then, worry swimming in his big, big eyes as he stares at Jaemin. "Ten-hyung, maybe we should pack up? for today," he murmurs, and Ten turned away, talking softly with Doyoung but Jaemin just doesn't care anymore. He wants to feel that pair of warm crescent shaped eyes on him, he wants to nestle into Jeno's arms and sleep there forever. Without him knowing, tears began sliding down his cheeks, and he closed his eyes. Had first loves always hurt like this?

"yes, it does," Ten says, and Jaemin realizes he had said it out loud. He blinks owlishly at Ten, and the shorter sighs. "always had. But if you have faith, you two might just meet, again." he ruffles his hair a little, and offered a cautious smile. "if you're okay, you can come out, serve the customers?" he says, and kissed his forehead. "if you need me, just shout," he called, and disappears behind the door.

Jaemin stares blankly at his hands, the mug of hot chocolate still in his hands. His heart is still racing, had been since he first hit asked out by Jeno, but now it just hurts. He took a deep breath and drank the drink, before setting it down next to him. He will get through this, he thought, warmth slowly coming back to his body.

If you had faith, you two will meet again.

Jaemin held the words close to his heart, and stood up, changing into the uniform. He opened the door. Took a step outside, and prepared himself. He forces a smile onto his face, and walks out.

he will be strong.

<><><><><><> a year later <><><><><><><>

It's Christmas.

"nice to meet you!" Jaemin says easily, bright smile in full display as he looks up to greet the customers. He was wiping down the tables quickly, since they are running low on waiters. Ten peeks out from behind the counter, all fluffy hair and bright eyes as he looked for Jaemin. When he spotted him, a grin appears on his face, and he waved him over. "here, give this to that guy over there," he whispers harshly, pressing an iced Americano into his hands.

A pout begins to work its way to his lips, and Jaemin crosses his arms. "no," he replies stubbornly, and a tic appeared above Ten's eyebrow. "go," he responded icily, with a glare that spelled trouble for Jaemin when he gets off work. Huffing a little, the younger takes the cold drink from him, and walks towards the blonde sitting by the window (his favourite spot) and sets it down on the table gently. 

He makes sure a bright smile is set on his face as he tapped lightly on his shoulder. "mister, your drink is here?" he murmurs, and the blonde turns. 

Jaemin's heart stuttered.

The blonde had pretty crescent shaped eyes, a small pout on his lips and a pair of glasses balanced precariously on his nose. He squints up at Jaemin, and breaks into a small smile. "Jaem, love," he says, his soft voice thick with emotions. Jaemin was frozen, eyes trained on the blonde who had stood up, facing him.

"Jeno?" he whispers finally, eyes wide with hesitance. Jeno grins, opening his arms wide and Jaemin threw himself into that warm embrace. He smells like coffee, and home, and Jaemin lets a few tears fall as he gripped him tightly. "you're back," he whispers, and Jeno laughs, a beautiful, musical thing that made Jaemin's heart race even more. Jeno pulls away, and smiles a little at Jaemin, and extended a hand to him. He looks at him, confused, and Jeno's smile grows broader.

"up for a little adventure with me, Na Jaemin?"

Jaemin grins, and took the hand, loving the warmth Jeno gives him.

"with you, forever."

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry, i'm bad at titles. anyway, happy (early) Christmas!!


End file.
